Random: Fernando Lopes-Graca's Concerto da camera (Chamber Concerto) came up randomly on the squeezebox today. The piece begins with long sustained, slow phrases. I have no doubt that in lesser hand this piece could be very tedious for the listener. This piece, written for Rostropovich, features high-pitched slow lines that seem to pit the cello against the ensemble with constant light tension. Briefly in the second movement, a short run of faster notes punctuated by mallet percussion, breaks the tension. The finale builds to a climax with numerous faster runs and the first prominent appearance of brass. This energy dissipates and the peice fades slowly away for the last few minutes. Initially put off by the slow opening of the first movement, each repeated listen has left me with new musical features to ponder. For some reason there are close intervals throughout that make me think of Ligeti.
Selected: As one of my favorite guitarists, I eagerly awaited the release of this disc "Wait Till You See Her" by the John Abercrombie Quartet. This group features very interesting voicing with guitar, violin, bass, and drums. However, the pacing of these tunes is very, very slow. Interesting tonal interplay abounds, but there is a continual urge to have the music... get up and go! "Out of Towner" poses the first reasonably distinctive melody. Although I like it, I can't decide, if "Chic of Araby", is clever, gimmicky, or just cliche.
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